Is it possible to feed everyone on earth only with organic, free-range food, or are factory farms and pesticides necessary to produce enough?

Answers

In theory it would be possible to do so since all farms have the potential to go organic, but in practice it would be extremely difficult. The pesticides and hormones that we use help keep our plants healthy and from being eaten by insects. Without pesticides, the percentage of plants that survive for harvesting decreases greatly, which is one of the reasons that organic foods are more expensive. They have less crop. I think that some sort of pesticides and factory farms are necessary to produce enough crops for the whole world. We already have problems with malnutrition, and if the food supply decreased, those problems would only get worse.

At this time, this is not feasible. There are so many people on the planet and in many areas they are not using organic farming or free range ranching. It would take a shift in practice for farmers around the world to stop using pesticides and practice only green methods. This will take time and may be met with resistence. However, there is not enough available farmland to continue to use pesticides, etc. on some and try to feed the whole world with organic crops.

First steps would be for individual families and then communities and towns to try to make the switch. In time, countries would switch and then eventually the entire world could eat healthy, organic food. Education, incentives, and assistance from people who understand organic farming and ranching would be needed in all areas. It would be a huge task, but is of course possible in time.

Until around 1940, for example we used almost 3/4 of our farmland to graze the draft animals we used to work th eother 25%. We have actually a LOT of unused farmland. However, organic producton is much more labor intensive and consequently we will pay more for such food. Those who cannot afford to pay will die off, and so by definition you can feed everyone you can grow organic food for.

As recently as 1950 more than 20% of the families annual budget was spent on food, but to day it is less than 10%. We can grow a lot more organic food, but as with everything else the question is what are we willing to give up in order to get it?